To Arden Arcade resident Sandy Welsh the music and dancing at the Sacramento Valley Scottish Games and Festival energizes one’s soul.

One of the oldest and largest festivals in California, the Sacramento Valley Scottish Games & Festival, held in Woodland at the Yolo County Fairgrounds, is April 27-28.

The Sacramento Valley Scottish Games and Festival is the main yearly event the Caledonian Club of Sacramento hosts, which draws up to 20,000 people each year. This fun, family event includes Scottish clans, competitions, music, dance, live history, children’s activities, animals, vendors and more.

Blessed with talented dancers and musicians who work hard to hone their craft to bring joy to others, Welsh who sells advance tickets and mans the gates at the fairgrounds said, the festival is a showcase of a diverse and magical culture.

“I love the people, their values and the music of this diverse and magical culture that is showcased in the Scottish Games. I love that it is a family-friendly event where you’ll find something for every age to enjoy – from the children’s area and youth caber to Celtic fiddles and harps – to Celtic rock – to bagpipes – Celtic animals – to learning Ceilidh (pronounced kaylee) dancing – to historical re-enactors,” she said.

Locally Welsh belongs to the Caledonian Club of Sacramento where she serves as Vice Chief, which means she planned the Tartan Ball last year. She sells pre-sale tickets and recruits volunteers. She also belongs to the Daughters of Scotia and she makes scones for the tea-room at the Games.

To her neighbor, Gordon Scott, whose involvement with the games go back to about 1985, “taking tickets and most things in between,” he said he’s a “sucker” for the games. “Once you get roped in (as a volunteer), you stay in,” he said.

In 1973, Scott went traveled to Ireland, where he decided to buy a kilt. But it wasn’t until years later when he and his wife partook in Scottish country-dance after her coworker who was the chief of the Gaelic club said ‘you have to do this.’ “We went there and enjoyed that,” he said, meeting some fun people along the way.

Like Scott, it was through Scottish Country dancing that Welsh learned so much about Celtic music and became friends with some amazingly dancers and musicians.

“What a huge blessing,” Welsh said, adding that one of her best friends is from Dunblane, Scotland. “She generously shared so much of her culture not only with me, but with everyone,” she said.
Because Welsh loved the music so much, she published a newsletter called “Celtic is Happening” for about five years. The publication promoted Celtic Musicians who performed up and down the coast and in the Central Valley. “I never pretended to know anything…but I sure knew who to refer anyone to who wanted to know more. It was actually through my subscribers that I knew people in Sacramento before we moved here,” she said.  One of those subscribers is the editor of an online Celtic Calendar found on the Caledonian Club website, www.saccallie.org.

When Welsh and her husband Rich came to Sacramento in 2006, she joined the Caledonian Club right way. Rich is a genealogist and works every year at the games in Woodland at the genealogy desk. Through genealogy, he discovered that he, too, is Scottish.

“However, I don’t expect to see him in a kilt anytime soon,” Welsh jokes.

Scott loves how the games have been shared through generations. “I am now seeing young adults with children. I saw them competing in piping and dance and their kids now are competing in those events,” he said.

“I probably get a get kick out of youngest highland dancers. They don’t have the steps down, but they’re out there doing their thing. Seeing them progress each year — it’s always a thrill,” Scott said.

Welsh loves sharing the passion and dedication of everyone involved, whether you’re a piper, highland dancer, athlete, Scottish Country Dancer, fiddler, “Clannie”, organizer, vendor, re-enactor or volunteer. “It takes every talent and skill-set to make this event .. this “Brigadoon” happen.

And everyone is a volunteer. No one is taken for granted.

“We are blessed with talented dancers and musicians who work hard to hone their craft to bring joy whatever performance venue where they appear,” said Welsh.

Working on a Scottish Games committee is a supreme learning and personal growth experience, said Welsh.

“I love working and forging relationships with people who didn’t know they could move that mountain until after it was moved.  I love that we bring, in modern times, an event that has gone on for much longer that 137 years to this generation.  I love when they (the youth) carry some element of it forward. Although we are ‘Brigadoon’ for three days, we bring these same values with us to our jobs and community,” said Welsh.

Welsh’s father (USAF, Ret) and mother (the Irish side) introduced Welsh to her Scottish heritage in 1986 at the Caledonian Club of San Francisco Games and Gathering, Santa Rosa. (That event currently takes place in Pleasanton, CA on Labor Day week end). Both of her dad’s parents came from Old Cumnock (Ayreshire), Scotland in the late 1880’s. They settled in Birch Run, Michigan. She was Sara Kerr; he was Robert Arthur.  Welsh joined Clan MacArthur at the games in 1986.

In 1993, Welsh joined the Campbell Highland Games committee (San Jose). For that organization she did sponsorships, publicity, program advertising sales, coordinated volunteers for the entire event and wrapped her 10-year tenure on the Campbell Highland Games Committee as Chieftain (Executive Director). In 1993 Welsh also started Scottish Country Dancing and joined the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society – SF Branch. Concurrently she served as Secretary of the South Bay Scottish Society, ultimately becoming the Chief of SBSS.

The California Preservation Foundation (CPF) has awarded Catherine Taylor with the President’s Award for 2012 for her work to preserve California’s heritage and historic places. Taylor is the district superintendent for the Capital District of California State Parks and is known for providing statewide leadership, advocacy and education to ensure the protection of California’s diverse cultural heritage and historic places. CPF honors individuals and organizations for their dedicated preservation efforts that allow others to gain a deeper appreciation of historic resources and their value to California’s economy, environment, and quality of life.  The award will be presented at a special 2012 California Preservation Awards event at the AT&T Center in Los Angeles on Saturday, Oct. 13, 2012.

As district superintendent for the Capital District of California State Parks, Taylor oversees operations for nine state historic parks and state museums that include the following:  the State Capitol Museum, State Railroad Museum, State Indian Museum, Leland Stanford Mansion State Historic Park, Governor’s Mansion State Historic Park, Sutter’s Fort State Historic Park, Old Sacramento State Historic Park, Railtown 1897 State Historic Park in Jamestown, and the Woodland Opera House State Historic Park. In addition to her daily operational duties, she also oversees two major development projects underway at the California Indian Heritage Center and the Railroad Technology Museum, both in the Sacramento region.

Before being named district superintendent, Taylor served as museum director for the California State Railroad Museum for six years, as executive director of the California State Railroad Museum Foundation (the non-profit support affiliate for the museum) for over a decade, and was responsible for its most significant growth and development. Taylor also managed two major Railfair events in 1991 and 1999, both drawing more than 180,000 visitors to Sacramento to celebrate railroad history and technology. Today, Taylor works with many non-profit organizations and paid and volunteer California State Parks staff throughout the Capital District to help develop strong partnerships and fiscal sustainability for the parks in her district, and to secure the preservation of these significant historic sites.

More information about the California Preservation Foundation is available at www.californiapreservation.org and more information about the Capital District State Museums and Historic Parks is available at www.parks.ca.gov/CapitalDistrict.

AREA ICON. Sam’s Hof Brau at 2500 Watt Ave. is the last remaining Sam Gordon-founded eatery in Sacramento. / Arden-Carmichael News photo, Lance Armstrong

Editor’s Note: This is part two of a two-part history series about Sam’s Hof Brau and other restaurants that were founded in Sacramento by the late Sam Gordon. Read Part one

As presented in the first part of this series, local restaurateur Sam Gordon (1907-1998) established four restaurants in the Sacramento area from 1955 to 1960. And with the popularity of these eateries, he continued to open other local restaurants.
Sam’s Plaza Hof Brau
His next dining establishment, Sam’s Plaza Hof Brau at 2500 Watt Ave. at El Camino Avenue, opened in January 1962.
In its Jan. 21, 1962 edition, The Sacramento Union noted that the restaurant had “opened to the public last week.”
The announcement was accompanied by a few details regarding the then-new Sam’s Plaza Hof Brau and a photograph of Gordon standing alongside a tall, wooden American Indian statue.
The carved statue was part of the décor of the restaurant, which was mainly designed with a “Gay 1890s” theme and had 6,000 square feet of floor space.
Other decorations placed in the restaurant were old signs, paintings and stained glass from a collection in Scottsdale, Ariz. and solid brass, gas lanterns from the grand ballroom of the old Union Hotel in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. The lanterns had since been converted for electrical use.
The restaurant also opened with its 1890 Room, a banquet room with a safe from the Western Hotel, which was located at 209-219 K St. and owned by William Land, who willed the funds for today’s William Land Park. The banquet room was built to accommodate 60 to 90 patrons and the remainder of the restaurant seated 180 guests.
More than 100 photographs and etchings of early Sacramento and nearly life-sized paintings of Lillian Russell and Diamond Jim Brady were hung on the walls.
One of the more notable decorations at the restaurant is a large painting of the 1869 “golden spike” celebration, which ceremoniously marked the completion of the first Transcontinental Railroad.
But beyond its unique, inviting décor, Sam’s built its positive reputation through its entrées featuring fresh meats such as roast beef, roast turkey, prime rib, corned beef, baked ham and pastrami.
And of course, these meats can always be used to make this eatery’s signature “Sam’wiches.”
Special hof brau memories
Tom Tolley, who grew up in Carmichael and was a 1968 graduate of Del Campo High School, was one of this restaurant’s earliest diners.
“Sam’s Hof Brau was always a favorite,” Tom said. “In 1962, my folks (Walter and Norma Tolley) and I first visited Sacramento and ate at Sam’s on Watt and El Camino (avenues). I found it hard to believe that such a cool restaurant was right next door to such a fabulous bookstore and record store – the two Towers. Even Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley, where I lived, couldn’t match that sort of arrangement. We moved to Sacramento two years later and my dad and I would eat there. When Sam’s celebrated their 25th anniversary, they rolled prices back to match their opening menu for about a week – a roast beef sandwich for around 65 cents – and the lines were out the door. Even though I was working at a quality restaurant – Coral Reef – I ate there almost every day during that week. Sam’s is still a destination where I have lunch with friends or when I happen to be out that way. The one thing I miss is being able to buy a new book or album before or after lunch. The changes to Sam’s have not been drastic over the years and I can still load up on free pickles.”
David Spieth, 60, who graduated from El Camino High School in 1970, also shared his memories about the Watt and El Camino avenues restaurant.
“Sam’s Hof Brau was always a neat place to eat roast beef sandwiches,” Spieth said. “And, of course, if you wanted a taste of turkey, they always had one turning in the window. It was always dark and cozy and had a lot of privacy when you ate. It was a place where you could take your girlfriend or friends and family. And it was close to the Country Club (Lanes) bowling alley, where I used to bowl. (It was) next to Tower Records, where you could always get your vinyl or tapes. (The area has) changed a lot. The bowling alley and Sam’s Hof Brau are the only original places left.”
Carmichael resident Pete Lennarz, who owned the Watt Avenue hof brau for about 16 years, said that he began leasing the Watt Avenue building from Gordon in 1991.
Lennarz added that since the Denny’s restaurant corporation owned Sam’s eateries at that time, he simply shortened his business’s name to Plaza Hof Brau to avoid any conflict with Denny’s.
In 2007, the restaurant was purchased from Lennarz by the Hof Brau Restaurant Group, which included several Mikuni restaurants partners. And since 2009, this hof brau has operated under the name, Sam’s Hof Brau.
Among the earlier events held at the restaurant under its then-new ownership was a 50th anniversary celebration on May 18, 2009.
To eliminate any confusion regarding the timing of this event, it should be recognized that upon acquiring the hof brau, these owners were incorrectly informed that this Watt Avenue business had been established in 1959.
It was not until the publication of the first part of this article series (see May 24 edition of this paper at www.valcomnews.com) that the ownership learned that the event was unfortunately held three years prior to the restaurant’s actual anniversary.
Sam’s Big Top
Less than two months following the opening of Sam’s Plaza Hof Brau, construction began on Gordon’s sixth Sacramento area restaurant – Sam’s Big Top at 1101 16th St. The business was opened to the public in October 1962.
The location was an ideal place for this circus-themed eatery, since Sacramentans had routinely dined at the popular Stan’s Drive-In at the same site.
This Sam’s restaurant, which was originally managed by Art Davis, featured 24-hour booth and counter service and seating for 100 guests.
Another Sam’s Big Top later opened at 2721 El Camino Ave. at Sandringham Road, but was operating as a Denny’s by 1970.
Sam’s expanded outside Sacto
Many Sacramentans also have fond memories of Sam’s Town entertainment center and restaurant, which operated off Highway 50 in Cameron Park from 1963 to 2000.
Additional Sam’s Hof Braus were opened outside the capital city, including in Auburn (Placer County), Oakland, Portland and Los Angeles.

A Sacramento tradition continues
Certainly the days are long gone when Sam’s restaurants could be spotted in different parts of the Sacramento area.
But fortunately the last remaining Gordon-founded eatery in the city, Sam’s Hof Brau at Watt and El Camino avenues, continues to carry forth its tradition of serving “fresh, stick-to-your-ribs food at piggy bank prices.”